To Twit or Not to Twit

Approximately a year ago I presented at the 2009 AAIM conference and told my participants that I didn't know what everyone was all a twitter about. I promised them if I could find a purpose for twitter, I would be back this year at the 2010 AAIM conference and do a workshop specifically on twitter. I'm working on that presentation now because I have found a wonderful purpose to twitter and it has amazingly expanded my professional learning network.

Here is what I wrote on my wiki in the beginning stages last year as I tracked my progress as a newbie on twitter.

What is twitter. Click here to learn more.

Is there any real value in twitter. ABSOLUTELY! Since starting my twitter account, I've received tons of tweets that have led me to new technology discoveries. The key is in who you choose to follow. Of course, some people like to follow celebrities. That's ok. However, mix in a few good educational people and the value of twitter beyond a fun distraction becomes evident. How do you find them? This is what I did. I knew of specific people that had twitter accounts that I valued their opinions and ideas. I checked out who they were following. I checked out each person's profile and clicked to follow them. I gave it a week or so. If nothing that they posted seemed to interest me, I removed them. If what they posted interested me, I checked out in turn who they were following. It's a gradual process, but so far it has worked for me. I would hazard a guess it is similar to going to a workshop every day for me. I gather at least one good profitable, idea each day.

Try it yourself. Once you create your account, make sure you follow me. I'm uniqsuseq on twitter.